Friday, September 16, 2016

Bennett had the greatest day yesterday celebrating his second birthday.

We brought him downstairs to a blue muffin (made by his sister) and a pile of truck presents to unwrap. The night before I told Bennett in detail what every present would be and he was beyond excited to see it all come true!

Big sisters may not always be a wish come true, however.

Probably the most beloved present we gave him was his "boo 'ment" (blue cement mixer).

He really wanted a "yewwo 'ment" but that one was twice as big, so Bennett has to suffer through a boo 'ment until he turns three.

Bennett didn't mind his extremely loud Hess fire trucks as well, and has been testing our hearing every few minutes when he blazes the siren. "Woo Woo" he declares!

Bennett got a cupcake (with a candle, of course), after lunch.

I never went so over the top with Orelia's birthdays, but I decided that turning two is the perfect age to celebrate nonstop.

At two there are no expectations (and also not really an understanding of what a birthday even means) and no pressure.

Bennett was just so genuinely happy to open truck presents and eat cake all day long, I couldn't help myself.

Who could resist this face?

Such a happy boy on a happy day.

Noni brought some shells from Rehoboth, and Bennett spent about an hour in the backyard just pouring them from truck to truck.

So apparently the second best thing to a truck is something that fits inside of a truck.

And a "kee-kee" (cookie) monster cup isn't half bad either.

Today Bennett and I had our day of preschool together (with Noni along to help), and Bennett go to say "hewwo bap-oe" to his favorite backhoe.

Noni and I brought the snack that week, and Bennett got to chow down on all his favorite fruits. (This is him giving me his best "cheese" grin after telling me that the food is "yucky" - his attempt at a joke.)

The day after his birthday Bennett got to blow out the last two candles for the year at school. It was a great couple of days celebrating this sweet, fun, and excited little guy. Happy second birthday, Bennett!

Monday, September 5, 2016

Our little Bennett is growing up. He had his first ever first day of school on Friday.

He is attending Orelia's preschool and is in an 18-30 month class with Teacher Maria.

The class meets once a week and a parent has to attend with the child (it's similar to a cooperative school). This is a great way for Bennett to ease into a school environment with very little stress and lots of fun.

Bennett carried his well-worn and favorite book from the moment we left the house until he got into his first-ever classroom. At that moment, the book was easily put aside to play with all the new things he couldn't wait to try.

Once he saw the big yellow trucks in the sand pit, it was love at first sight.

He just plopped himself down and went to work filling the trucks with sand over and over.

I could even chat with some friends and his new teacher while he happily dug in the sand - it was wonderful.

Everything was going swimmingly until cleanup time. There were five minutes of sobbing once it was time to say "bye bye backhoe" to all the trucks he had fallen in love with. For all I know, he thought we were at a toy store trying things out and we would be bringing all of these home with us.

He eventually recovered enough to sit through circle time (somewhat forlorn, mind you), but every time the word "school" is mentioned he immediately pipes in with "bye bye bap-oe." This is one hard lesson he will not forget!

I sure do love this sweet truck-loving guy and can't wait to see how much fun he has at school this year!